Paul Singer, a top Republican donor, will spurn the Republican National Convention, making him the latest high-profile party to pass on Cleveland, where Donald Trump is set to be nominated for president.
According to Bloomberg, Singer will not be donating to the convention or partaking in events there. The billionaire hedge fund manager has been a key figure in the #NeverTrump movement, having financially backed Sen. Marco Rubio’s White House bid and donated $1 million to the Our Principles PAC, which has been staunchly against Trump.
The news of Singer’s decision also comes three days after 49 were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Singer himself is a major proponent of same-sex marriage and has pushed for Republicans to support it in the platform.
The New York-based billionaire joins the growing list of Republicans not attending the July convention, which includes 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, 2008 nominee John McCain and former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush.
In a speech last month in New York, Singer took aim at Trump, calling the ongoing race a “difficult time if not a bleak time for conservatives,” although he believes the GOP will rise up after the election.
Singer also joins fellow GOP mega-donor David Koch in not attending the convention. However, their absences do not seem to have had a major impact on fundraising for the convention itself. A spokeswoman for the Cleveland host committee told Bloomberg last week that the group had received committments for $57 million of the targeted $64 million goal.
